1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electric lighting elements, light strings and lighted displays, and to methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Smell sometimes can play as large a role as sight and sound typically do in creating and remembering an experience. For example, the smell of food cooking, the ocean, popcorn, or a pine tree often brings back memories of certain events or locations as fast or faster than the associated sights and sounds.
As a consequence, air fresheners and other scented articles, both natural and synthetic, have been developed to help create such an environment or bring back such a memory when the real smell is not available. Typically these devices are designed to be attractive or inconspicuous; for example, non-electric air fresheners may be designed to be adhered to the back or bottom of an article of furniture and electric air fresheners may be flat, small and light colored to blend in with the wall when plugged in.
Most air fresheners have a housing with a cavity in it that retains a scented fluid or gel. The fluid typically is held in a reservoir or absorbed in a porous body, while the gel may have enough structural integrity to be attached or coupled to the housing. When the scented fluid or gel evaporates, the fluid is refilled or the gel replaced to cause the air freshener to function again.
The scented gel or fluid typically is volatile—which is desired for an air freshener in order to generate odor—but, as a result, the scented fluid or gel often dissipates faster than desired. Evaporating too quickly results in too strong a scent being generated in the surrounding area and undesirably frequent replacement or refilling or replacement of the scented fluid or gel. Adjustable openings often are used to prevent too much odor from escaping the air freshener housing; however, this may not solve the problem of frequent refill or replacement.